The present invention relates to a work sheet processing system for transporting a material work sheet by a loader into a work sheet processing machine such as a punch press or a laser processing machine, and transporting out by the loader, a product work sheet processed by the work sheet processing machine.
According to the conventional work sheet processing system of such kind, the product work sheet processed by the work sheet processing machine and located on a work table is transported out by the loader, and the next material work sheet is to be transported onto the work table by the loader after the surface of the work table is cleared.
However, under such structure, there is a problem in that the cycle time of the processing is to be long due to the work sheet making two round trips between the loader work sheet processing machine and the transporting in-and-out position for the material work sheet to be transported into the work sheet processing machine from the transporting in-and-out position and the processed product work sheet to be transported out to the transporting in-and-out position from the work sheet processing machine. By providing an exclusive unloader apart from the loader, the efficiency can be improved. However, in such case, the structure of the entire system is to be complicated, the set-up cost is to be expensive, and the occupying floor space is to increase.
The object of the present invention is to solve such problems and to provide a work sheet processing system capable of transporting in the material work sheet and transporting out the product work sheet efficiently, and shortening the cycle time of the processing.
The structure of the present invention will now be described in reference to FIG. 1 which corresponds to the embodiment. The work sheet processing system comprises a work sheet processing machine 3 for processing a work sheet W, and a loader 5 for transporting a material work sheet W onto a table 7 of the work sheet processing machine 3 and for transporting out the processed product work sheet M from the table 7 of the work sheet processing machine 3. The loader 5 comprises a work sheet holding means 18 which is comprised of a material work sheet holding tool 19 for holding the material work sheet W, and a product work sheet holding tool 20 for holding the product work sheet M. Furthermore, the work sheet processing system comprises a processing machine control means 31 and a loader control means 32. The processing machine control means 31 controls the work sheet processing machine 3 so that the work sheet processing machine 3 opens an area on the table 7 for the material work sheet W to be transported in by the loader 5, and the product work sheet M to be on standby by being placed within the area the product work sheet holding tool 20 of the loader 5 is capable of being transported out. The loader control means 32 controls the loader 5 so that the loader 5 holds onto the product work sheet M and then transports it out when the material work sheet W is placed on the table 7.
According to the structure, when the loader 5 transports the material work sheet W onto the table 7 of the work sheet processing machine 3, the product work sheet M on standby on the table 7 is held by the same loader 5 and can be transported out. Therefore, the material work sheet W can be transported into the work sheet processing machine 3 and the product work sheet M can be transported out from the work sheet processing machine 3 by an operation of one round trip of the loader 5. Further, the material work sheet holding tool 19 and the product work sheet holding tool 20 can be of the same structure to one another.
According to the present invention, a position changing control means 34 can be provided for the work sheet processing machine 3 to carry out the position changing operation so that the position of the product work sheet M is to be changed to the area where it can be transported out by the product work sheet holding tool 20 in the case the product work sheet M is not located within the area where it can be transported out by the product work sheet holding tool 20 of the loader 5.
If constructed likewise, the position of the product work sheet M is changed by the position changing control means 34 to the area capable of being transported out. Therefore, even in the case in which the processing shape or the processing form of the work sheet differ variously, the material work sheet W can be transported in and the product work sheet M can be transported out by one round trip of the loader 5.
Moreover, the work sheet processing machine 3 comprises a work sheet feeding device 9 for feeding the work sheet W to be processed. The position changing control means 34 can be made to control the work sheet feeding device 9.
If constructed likewise, the work sheet feeding device 9 for feeding the work sheet W can be used for changing the position of the product work sheet M. As a result, a special mechanism for changing the position of the product work sheet M becomes unnecessary.
Further, the processing machine control means 31 can be having a function to control the work sheet processing machine 3 as to transfer the product work sheet M on the table 7 by the work sheet feeding device 9 to the area capable of being transported out by the product work sheet holding unit 20 of the loader 5, and to make the work sheet feeding device 9 to be on standby at a position where the material work sheet W can be transported in by being separated from the product work sheet M. Accordingly, it can be prepared for the transporting in of the material work sheet W.